From Beltrami County Sheriff Ernie Beitel
On Thursday, the US Secret Service expanded its exclusionary zone for the POTUS visit to Bemidji. In addition to the exclusionary zone expansion announced yesterday, traffic will be restricted to local traffic only on Adams Ave. (County Road 11) at 15th St NW (County Road 6) north to US #2.
Where the exclusionary zone begins on Adams Ave., the road will not be passable by vehicle or pedestrian traffic. In addition, Cardinal Rd NW (County Road 9), on the west edge of the airport, will be marked as no parking zone, except for authorized emergency vehicles.
There will also be private security on site at the bus loading areas and at the airport during the event. They are contracted through the event organizers and are not working for or are they working under the direction of any local law enforcement agency. They will be in uniform that clearly distinguishes them as security. Those attending need a ticket from the organizers and must enter the exclusion zone by one of the buses provided by the organizers. No other vehicles or pedestrians will be allowed to enter the exclusionary zone.
For those attending the event, there will be on-site screening procedures and equipment that is similar to what TSA has in place for airline travel. A secret service spokesperson indicated that attendees should use parameters similar to those used by TSA for the amount and type of personal property that you may want to bring into the event.
View a map of the Exclusion Restricted Zone.
